Overwhelming number of world's people, business leaders support stronger climate action
Wed 23 April 2025
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An overwhelming majority of people in the world - between 80 and 89% - want their governments to take stronger climate action, according to a growing number of peer-reviewed studies. Meanwhile an even larger majority of business leaders support the clean energy transition, according to a separate worldwide poll.
Growing political opposition to action on climate change has dominated much recent coverage of the climate crisis. However, research finds that large majorities of people throughout the world want stronge action on climate.
The most recent study, People’s Climate Vote 2024, conducted by Oxford University (as part of a programme launched by the UN after the 2015 Paris agreement) found that among poorer countries, where around 80% of the world’s inhabitants live, 89% of the public wanted stronger climate action. In richer, industrialized countries, roughly two out of three people wanted stronger action. Combining rich and poor populations, the study says “80% [of people globally] want more climate action from their governments.”
The Yale Program on Climate Change Communication has published numerous studies documenting a similar point: most people, in most countries, want stronger action on the climate crisis.
A recent global poll has also revealed overwhelmingly strong backing from business leaders for a rapid transition to renewable energy. The poll (conducted by Savanta and commissioned by E3G, Beyond Fossil Fuels, and We Mean Business) asked for the opinions of nearly 1,500 executives across 15 major global economies and emerging markets.
Conducted between December 2024 and February this year, the study found that 97% of business leaders support the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources. It found that business leaders recognise the critical importance of renewable energy for energy security, economic growth, and long-term competitiveness.
Moreover, 78% of executives are calling for the shift to occur within the next ten years, with two-thirds of those polled stating that gas does not need to be part of the transition. 87% of the business leaders surveyed want governments to eliminate coal-fired electricity within the same timeframe.
The survey also found that 52% of business leaders are prepared to relocate their operations while 49% plan to move supply chains if their governments fail to meet renewable energy targets.
Image: Courtesy Mika Baumeister on Unsplash
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